Complementary therapies in medicine
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Complement Ther Med · Dec 2007
Randomized Controlled Trial Controlled Clinical TrialThe management of cancer-related fatigue after chemotherapy with acupuncture and acupressure: a randomised controlled trial.
Cancer-related fatigue after chemotherapy is a difficult symptom to manage in practice and the most disruptive symptom in patients' lives. Acupuncture is a popular complementary therapy among cancer patients and some evidence exists that it could potentially alleviate fatigue by stimulating 'energy' points in the body. Hence, this study was carried out to assess the effects of acupuncture and acupressure in managing cancer-related fatigue and the feasibility of running a randomised trial with these two complementary therapies in preparation for a large trial. ⋯ Acupuncture shows great potential in the management of cancer-related fatigue. As a randomised trial with acupuncture is feasible and preliminary data shows significant improvements, it should be tested further using a large sample and a multicentre design.
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Complement Ther Med · Dec 2007
Acupuncture for chronic pain within the research program of 10 German Health Insurance Funds--basic results from an observational study.
To investigate which patients receive acupuncture in the framework of statutory health insurance in Germany, how treatment was carried out, and what results were achieved. ⋯ Acupuncture proved a highly demanded treatment option for chronic pain conditions within the German research program. Results indicate that acupuncture provided by qualified therapists is safe, and patients benefited from the treatment.